Trump, Xi set tone for mutual respect, cooperation

US President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a phone call in which the two leaders established a “clear sense of mutual respect”.

Trump’s office confirmed the phone call early Monday in Washington, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Chinese state news broadcaster CCTV elaborated on the call, citing Xi as saying that cooperation was the “sole correct choice” of the two nations and that such cooperation in the past had yielded benefits for both nations.

“As the biggest developing nation, and the biggest developed nation, and the world’s two biggest economies, China and the US must cooperate and the matters that can be cooperated on are many,” CCTV cited Xi as saying.

Trump’s campaign was marked by heated rhetoric targeting China, which he has pledged to declare a currency manipulator.

He additionally proposed imposing 45 percent trade tariffs on China over the course of his campaign and has threatened to withdraw from the global climate-change accord the Obama administration championed alongside Chinese leadership in Paris last year.

US-China bilateral relations have in recent years been roiled by issues as diverse as cybersecurity and Chinese conduct in the South China Sea, where Beijing has moved to actively stake its claim over contested territory through greater military buildup, aggravating tensions with its neighbors.

CCTV said both leaders would keep in contact and aim to meet soon, according to WSJ.

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